ROXBORO - It could be misconstrued as any normal end-of-year embrace among teammates who just ended their season with a postseason loss.

But the group hug after Panther Creek's first-round loss to Person County on Saturday was something more.

All nine Panther Creek (10-11) seniors - not quite the entire team - gathered with red faces, watery eyes and sheepish smiles.

They had just lost 25-21, 14-25, 25-15 and 25-21 to the Rockets, winners of two of the five previous state titles. But those numbers were secondary to the legacy these Catamounts left behind.

After a 6-16 season their freshman year, Panther Creek's seniors went 35-26 over their final three seasons, making the state playoffs all three years. Emily Hendricks was one of those seniors who has been on varsity her entire career.

"We used to play as individuals, and we were very talented individuals, but we brought it together as a team," she said.

The seniors keyed a mid-season rally that saved the Catamounts' year. After starting out 3-8, Panther Creek won seven of their last 10.

"I don't feel like they gave up," Catamounts coach Bonnie O'Connor said. "I'm proud of them for coming back considering the way we came back this season."

Two other Tri-Nine Conference teams fell in Saturday's first-round action, as Fuquay-Varina (12-10) lost 3-0 to Fayetteville Pine Forest and Cary (13-9) lost at Wakefield 3-0.

It was the sixth straight year that Cary had made the postseason, while Fuquay - which was the only wild-card team in the 4A East - was making its first appearance since 2008.

Green Hope, Apex and Holly Springs won their first-round games and competed in the second round Tuesday night.

Holly Springs was the only team to win on the road in the first round, taking out Jordan 25-21, 25-23, 25-20.

"We were able to pull together as a team and start pushing points," Holly Springs coach Jennifer Ivanoff said. "We let them make the mistakes as opposed to us."